Paste gun

ABSTRACT

A paste gun comprising a body, a nozzle for dispensing the paste at one end of the body, a casing removably attached to the body and adapted to contain a supply of the paste material to be dispensed, means to pressurize said casing whereby the paste will be dispensed under air pressure, a manually-operated trigger depending from the body and adapted to open a valve located in the nozzle at the discharge opening to start and stop the dispensing of the paste. Preferably, the air pressure is built up in the casing by means of a hand-operated air pump. The air pump can be removed and a check valve prevents discharge of the air from the casing.

United States Patent [1 1 Gardioni June 26 1973 PASTE GUN [76] Inventor: Paul Joseph Gardioni, 7100 Viau Primary Exammer M' Henson Wood [22] Filed: June 22, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 155,486

[52] U.S. C1 222/96, 239/328, 239/601 [51] Int. Cl B05b 15/00 [58] Field of Search ..-222/95, 96, 474, 222/510; 239/328, 373, 15, 117, 601

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,751,129 3/1930 Cocks 222/95 3,318,530 5/1967 Rhodes 239/117 3,270,920 9/1966 Nessler 222/95 1,715,335 5/1929 Cocks 222/95 2,755,967 7/1956 Anderson et al. 222/96 3,391,829 7/1968 Gregory 222/95 l1 I l l I I ,l

Street, Apt. 809, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Assistant Examiner-Michael Mar Attorney-Pierre Lesperance [57] ABSTRACT A paste gun comprising a body, a nozzle for dispensing the paste at one end of the body, a casing removably attached to the body and adapted to contain a supply of the paste material to be dispensed, means to pressurize said casing whereby the paste will be dispensed 6 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJUNZB ma 3. 741 438 SHEEI 1. I 3

# llllllllllllll i C 1 u u u "III/llll/l INVENT OR 5 1 Paul Joseph GARGION/ AGENT mimuuunzs ma 3.741.438

sum 2 or a Paul. dos h GARG/ON/ 59' 5 BY I AGENT PASTE GUN The present invention relates to a paste gun and, more particularly, to an apparatus for dispensing paste material of the type which dries or becomes solid upon exposure to air.

It is known to provide various types of guns for dispensing liquid and semi-liquid materials and also paste material such as grease, caulking compounds and the like.

However, when the paste material is of the type which dries rather quickly when exposed to air, it often happens that the material blocks the nozzle opening of the known paste guns, therefore requiring removal of the nozzle and its cleaning.

Also, known paste guns enclosing the supply of material to be dispensed have to be operated with two hands and do not provide for precise control of the flow of material, whereby said guns are not usually suitable for applying material at a precise exact location and in an exact amount as required when it is desired to dispense material to form an artistic pattern on a surface.

It is therefore the general object of the present invention to provide a paste gun which obviates the abovenoted disadvantages.

A more specific object of the present invention resides in the provision of a paste gun which can be manipulated with one hand and which'enables precise control of the discharge of the paste, so that the paste gun is highly adapted for applying the paste to a surface in a decorative manner, such that the gun may be used for dispensing an edible ribbon for decorating cakes, pastry and other food products; but which may also be used for making artistic representations, for drawing the joints of construction blocks and the like and for other similar applications.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a gun of the character described, provided with a discharge nozzle and with a control valve being located at the nozzle and said valve having a member extending through the nozzle opening when the valve is in closed position, thereby to obtain accurate flow control and to positively prevent drying of the paste within the nozzle opening and, consequently, clogging 'of said nozzle.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a paste gun of the character described, in which the paste is maintained under air pressure, which can be easily adjusted in accordance with the viscosity of the paste to be dispensed, so as to obtain precise rate of flow of paste out of the apparatus.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a gun of the character described, associated with a simple manually-operated air pumping means detachably connected to the gun for supplying air under pressure to the same at a controlled pressure.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a gun of the character described, in which the nozzle is interchangeable to vary the cross-sectional area of the ribbon of paste dispensed from the gun.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a gun of the character described, which is adapted to use readily available paste supply tubes of conventional construction.

The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a side elevation of the gun of the invention; FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal plan section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. I;

FIG. 5 is a cut-away longitudinal transverse section taken along line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front end view of the nozzle shown in FIGS. 1 and 4;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the front detachable section of the plunger and showing the valve member, said section attached to the rear section of the plunger partially illustrated in longitudinal section;

FIG. 8 is a front end view of a modified nozzle;

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the modified nozzle;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of the plunger front section carrying a modified valve member to be used in association with the nozzle of FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a front end view of the plunger front section of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the gun of FIG. I with one air pumping means connected to the casing thereof;

FIG. 13 is a side elevation of the gun of the invention showing another air pumping means attached to the casing thereof and also showing a modified nozzle; and

FIG. 14 is a plan section taken along line 1l4]l4l of FIG. 13.

In the drawing, like reference characters indicate like elements throughout.

The gun of the invention comprises an elongated generally cylindrical body 1 having a front threaded end for removably connectinga nozzle 2. The rear end of the body 1 is also threaded for removably receiving a threaded cap 3. A plunger 4 is axially reciprocable within a longitudinal bore 5 made in body I. A trigger member 6 is rigidly secured to plunger 4 by means of a setscrew 6' (see FIG. 3). The back of the plunger t forms an enlarged diameter portion 4 extending through an aligned opening made in cap 3 and surrounded by a compression coil spring '7, which abuts against a washer 8 rigid with plunger 4 and against the cap 3, the spring 7 and washer being located in a cavity 9 formed in the body 1. The front end of plunger 41 has a threaded blind bore for detachably connecting thereto a front plunger section 10, which is in the form of a stem extending the plunger back section 4. Said front section 10 extends within the front portion of bore 5 and is sealed by means of O-ring 5' surrounding plunger section 10 near the front end of body I.

Plunger section 10 is terminated by a needle 11 coaxial therewith and of reduced diameter, and a valve member 11' of frusto-conical shape is formed on plunger section 10 immediately behind needle 11.

In the released position of the plunger 4, the latter is urged forwardly of body 1 by spring 7, such that plunger section 10 protrudes outwardly from the front face 16 of body 1 and such that the valve member 11' seats against the valve seat 30 of nozzle 2, said valve seat being also of frusto-conical shape and disposed immediately rearwardly of the cylindrical opening M of the nozzle 2.

In the closed position of the valve, needle III has a sliding fit with the nozzle opening 14 and extends outwardly of the nozzle.

As shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, plunger section 10 can be detached from plunger 4 and replaced by plunger section 12 formed at its outer end with a needle 13 of rectangular cross-sectional shape and extending outwardly from a valve member 13' of a frusto-pyramidal shape. Needle 13 is adapted to extend through and protrude from the rectangular shaped opening 14' of a nozzle 2' and the valve member 13 is adapted to seat against a mating seat formed inside the nozzle adjacent its opening 14, as in the first embodiment.

Body 1 has longitudinal passages 15 for the paste to be dispensed, these passages 15 opening within the nozzle at the front convex face 16 of body 1 and angularly extended by passage inclined portions 15' which open within a threaded cavity or blind bore 17 made in a head 18 integral with body 1.

This head 18 has an externally threaded skirt 19 for screwing on the same a tubular casing 20 with the interposition of an O-ring 21 for sealing the connection of casing 20 to the body 1.

The casing 20 has at its outer closed end a check valve assembly 22, preferably of the type used for holding the air in vehicle tires. This check valve assembly 22 comprises a body screwed within the bottom of casing 20 and having a through bore establishing communication between the exterior and the inside of the casing 20 and a check valve member within said check valve body for allowing air under pressure into the casing, but preventing escape of the air therefrom.

The valve body has a threaded outer end for detachable connection to air pumping means. The body of the check valve assembly opens within the cavity 23 of casing 20. Casing 20 is adapted to enclose a tube C containing the paste material to be dispensed. This tube C is of the type having a flexible wall and provided with an externally threaded spout D at one end, which is adapted to be threadably secured within the blind bore or cavity 17 of the head 18 with he interposition of an O-ring 24 for sealing the bottom of cavity 17 from the chamber defined by casing 20.

It is noted that the assembly of the elongated casing 20 and of the head 18 extends at an angle from the elongated body 1 and that the trigger 6 extends in the same direction as that of casing 20 and is spaced forwardly of the same, such that the apparatus can be easily grasped with only one hand surrounding the casing 20 and with one finger applied on the trigger 6 for operating the same.

The trigger 6 is maintained in its intended direction by side walls of an elongated notch 25 opening at the exterior of the body and in communication with the bore 5. Said notch 25 has sufficient longitudinal extent for free longitudinal movement of that portion of the trigger member 6 surrounding the plunger 4. When the trigger member 6 is squeezed in the direction of casing 20, the valve member 11' or 13 is unseated, thereby opening the nozzle, and the paste in container C is caused to be discharged through the passages 15', 15 into the nozzle and through the nozzle opening 14 or 14', due to the action of the air under pressure surrounding the container C within casing 20. Release of the trigger 6 allows the spring 7 to return the plunger into valve closing position, thereby immediately stopping the flow of material being dispensed. The return force of the spring 7 can be adjusted by screwing more or less cap 3 on body 1.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be appreciated that, due to the convex shape of the front face 16 of body 1, the free space within the nozzle 1 is reduced to a minimum and, therefore, a minimum of paste will remain in said space when the apparatus is not in use. Also, because the valve closes the apparatus right at the nozzle opening and because the needle 11 has a sliding fit with said nozzle opening, there is no possibility of paste remaining in the nozzle opening and eventually clogging the same upon drying. Thus, the apparatus is always ready for instant use and the paste will be immediately discharged and blocked upon operation and release of the trigger, provided, obviously, that air under pressure surrounds tube C in casing 20.

It is a simple matter to replace the nozzle 2 and stem 10 with a nozzle having a different type of cross-section opening, such as nozzle 2', when it is desired to form a ribbon of paste of other than circular cross-section.

It is noted that needle 11 or 13 which has a sliding fit with the nozzle opening, serves also as a guide for proper seating of the valve member. Rotation of the valve member relative to the nozzle opening is prevented by trigger 6 engaging the sides of notch 25.

For supplying air under pressure to the casing 20, simple manually-operated air pumping means are used, such as the flexible bladder 26 shown in FIG. 12, provided with a conventional check valve 27 and adapted to be connected to the check valve assembly 22 of casing 20. If so desired, a conventional piston and cylinder air pump 26', shown in FIG. 13, may be connected to the valve assembly 22, the pumping means 26 being similar to those used for inflating tires of bicycles but of shorter length.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show another embodiment of the nozzle means and suitably modified body. In this embodiment the body 1' has a flat front end face 16' at which longitudinally extending passages 15" open. The nozzle 2" is threadedly fitted on the front end of body 1' and has an inner flat surface parallel to front face 16 and only slightly spaced therefrom. The nozzle is formed with a nipple provided with a bore 10' for receiving the needle of the valve member, said needle protruding from the outer end of the nipple. In this embodiment, a minimum of paste remains in the nozzle 2" and the valving action is also effected right at the nozzle. Moreover, the nozzle opening is positively cleared of any paste which might obstruct the same.

If the user wishes to prepare himself the paste to be ejected, tube C may be replaced by a rigid cylindrical container fully open at one end and having a threaded spout at the other end, such as spout D. The container is filled with paste and a piston inserted into the container behind the paste. The container spout is then screwed within cavity 17. Air under pressure in casing 20 will act on the piston to discharge the paste in the container.

In all the embodiments, the apparatus may be held and operated with one hand and a precise control of the flow of paste achieved. The nozzle may be applied directly against, or very close, to the surface adapted to receive the paste. The apparatus may be used to advantage for decorating surfaces with paste material, such as to make artistic paintings, for decorating food products, for laying joints of caulking compounds and the like.

The following is a non-limitative list of pastes which can be used in the apparatus of the invention: plaster,

cellulose filler, oil paint, acrylic paint, clay, automobile body repair compound, mayonnaise, soft cheese, various creams, icing sugar, and other substances in semisolid or paste state.

The apparatus can be used in the following nonlimitative manners:

1. As a toy for cementing small blocks of plastic,

wood and other material resulting in a new game of construction blocks, for making drawings and relief work,'for filling moulds resulting in a new molding game;

2. as a kitchen utensil for decorating cakes, toasts, biscuits, pastry and the like;

3. as an artist instrument for making relief paintings or murals, for decorating lamp-shades and other objects', and for making new forms of ceramic, kaolin or plaster objects;

4. as a tool for filling holes and cracks in walls, for applying mastic to window panes and repair compound to automobile body;

5. as a writing implement for writing in relief on shopwindows, walls, display boards and the like.

The pumping means 26 and 26 may be operated for a predetermined number of strokes in order to adjust the air pressure within the casing in accordance with the viscosity of'the paste being dispensed and in accordance with the desired rate of flow. It has also been found that air under pressure may be stored in sufficient amountwithin casing 20 to cause dispensing of the paste for a long time before refilling the casing with air under pressure. Thus, it is obvious that the air pumping means 26 and 26' can be detached from the valve assembly 22 during use of the apparatus.

What I claim is:

-1. An apparatus for dispensing paste material comprising, in combination, a body, a casing to hold material to be dispensed, detachably and sealingly secured to said body, said body having a front end face and passages in communication with said casing and opening at said front end face, a nozzle detachably secured to said body and surrounding said front end face, said nozzle having a discharge opening and a valve seat surrounding said opening, a plunger movably carried by said body and spring-urged into a position protruding from said end face and having an end portion extending through said opening, a valve member carried by said plunger and seating onsaidvalve seat in said position of said plunger, a trigger member operatively connected to said plunger, and means operable to maintain said casing under adjusted air pressure, and wherein said nozzle opening has a non-circular cross-section and said'plunger end portion has a non-circular crosssection mating with said nozzle opening.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said body and easing are of elongated shape and said casing extends at an angle from said body, and said trigger member extends outwardly of said body in the direcf tion of said casing and spaced from the latter, so that said trigger may be operated by a finger of the operators hand holding the assembly of said casing and body, and wherein said check valve body is mounted in the end of said casing opposite to the end of said casing which is detachably secured to said casing.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said plunger protrudes outwardly from said nozzle in said position thereof. I

4. An'apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plunger is made in two detachable sections, namely: a first section to which said trigger member is connected and a second section carrying said valve member and said end portion.

5. An apparatus for dispensing paste material comprising, in combination, a body, a casing to hold material to be dispensed, detachably and sealingly secured to said body, said body having a front end face and passages in communication with said casing and opening at said front end face, a nozzle detachably secured to said body and surrounding said front end face, said nozzle' having a discharge opening and a valve seat surrounding said opening, a plunger movably carried by said body and spring-urged into a position protruding from said end face and having an end portion extending through said opening, a valve member carried by said plunger and seating on said valve seat in said position of said plunger, a trigger member operatively connected to said plunger, and means operable to maintain said casing under adjusted air pressure, and wherein said means include a check valve body in communication with the interior of said casing and opening at the exterior thereof, a check valve within said check valve body and manually-operated air pumping means detachably connectable to said check valve body, and wherein said body has a blind bore along the londitudinal axis of said casing and opening within the latter, said passages opening within the bottom of said blind bore, said casing adapted to receive a flexible walled tube containing material to be dispensed, said tube having a spout adapted to be inserted into said bore and means to seal said spout within said bore.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said valve seat and said valve member have mating noncircular cross-sections.

i 0 h i t 

1. An apparatus for dispensing paste material comprising, in combination, a body, a casing to hold material to be dispensed, detachably and sealingly secured to said body, said body having a front end face and passages in communication with said casing and opening at said front end face, a nozzle detachably secured to said body and surrounding said front end face, said nozzle having a discharge opening and a valve seat surrounding said opening, a plunger movably carried by said body and spring-urged into a position protruding from said end face and having an end portion extending through said opening, a valve member carried by said plunger and seating on said valve seat in said position of said plunger, a trigger member operatively connected to said plunger, and means operable to maintain said casing under adjusted air pressure, and wherein said nozzle opening has a non-circular cross-section and said plunger end portion has a non-circular cross-section mating with said nozzle opening.
 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said body and casing are of elongated shape and said casing extends at an angle from said body, and said trigger member extends outwardly of said body in the direction of said casing and spaced from the latter, so that said trigger may be operated by a finger of the operator''s hand holding the assembly of said casing and body, and wherein said check valve body is mounted in the end of said casing opposite to the end of said casing which is detachably secured to said casing.
 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said plunger protrudes outwardly from said nozzle in said position thereof.
 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plunger is made in two detachable sections, namely: a first section to which said trigger member is connected and a second section carrying said valve member and said end portion.
 5. An apparatus for dispensing paste material comprising, in combination, a body, a casing to hold material to be dispensed, detachably and sealingly secured to said body, said body having a front end face and passages in communication with said casing and opening at said front end face, a nozzle detachably secured to said body and surrounding said front end face, said nozzle having a discharge opening and a valve seat surrounding said opening, a plunger movably carried by said body and spring-urged into a position protruding from said end face and having an end portion extending through said opening, a valve member carried by said plunger and seating on said valve seat in said position of said plunger, a trigger member operatively connected to said plunger, and means operable to maintain said casing under adjusted air pressure, and wherein said means include a check valve body in communication with the interior of said casing and opening at the exterior thereof, a check valve within said check valve body and manually-operated air pumping means detachably connectable to said check valve body, and wherein said body has a blind bore along the londitudinal axis of said casing and opening within the latter, said passages opening within the bottom of said blind bore, said casing adapted to receive a flexible walled tube containing material to be dispensed, said tube having a spout adapted to be inserted into said bore and means to seal said spout within said bore.
 6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said valve seat and said valve member have mating non-circular cross-sections. 